


Written in Blood and Tissue

by KaijuusAndKryptids



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Late Night Conversations, Pre-Canon, Quick Relationship Study, Scars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-11
Updated: 2020-09-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:29:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26400430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaijuusAndKryptids/pseuds/KaijuusAndKryptids
Summary: When Nicky first takes care of the twins, pretty early on the fire alarm trips and Andrew sees Nicky's old scars for the first time.
Relationships: Nicky Hemmick & Andrew Minyard
Kudos: 70





	Written in Blood and Tissue

**Author's Note:**

> Something quick and easy cause these two have a very underrated dynamic (and their self destructive/depressive tendencies mirror each other, just that Nicky's a lot farther along in his recovery than Andrew) and pls let them bond. They're good cousins and they love each other, even if they're shit at showing it.

Nicky Hemmick is twenty years old when he gains custody of his twin cousins. While he wouldn’t want it any other way (god forbid his hateful parents get their claws into them), Nicky is hopelessly out of his depth. He’s only just met Andrew, but he’s known Aaron has needed a positive home life for a while now. Since moving back to South Carolina, Nicky has tried to be as cheerful and positive as he can with his two damaged cousins. But the quiet after work, sitting awake in his room, invites all sorts of nasty thoughts in his head. He’s too naïve to take care of teenagers. He’s just as broken as they are, what makes him think he could have anything but a broken home? He’s too young for this kind of stress. He’ll die early. He spends more nights than not on the phone with his fiancée being talked down from a panic attack.

One of these nights, shortly after he hangs up, the fire alarm trips. Nicky stumbles out of his room to see Andrew stubbing out a cigarette. At least it isn’t an emergency. Nicky takes the batteries out of that detector and hits the reset chattering about the merits of opening a window to smoke. Andrew doesn’t meet his eyes. That isn’t unusual for late-night Andrew, feeling sick from the withdrawal of his meds. But now he’s frowning at Nicky’s bare legs.

“What happened?” Andrew, gruff as ever, gestures to the hem of Nicky’s boxers. Nicky looks down, and chews over what to say. His upper thighs look like reverse zebra stripes, light colored scars stippled over his dark skin. He shifts his weight to the other leg.

“I did. And then I said this will never happen again, and it hasn’t.”

They don’t look recent, but neither do Andrew’s. Still, Andrew narrows his eyes. That wasn’t what he was asking, but he files that information away. Andrew nods, feeling light headed and stalks off to bed without his cigarette. He briefly hopes Nicky can’t see it on him, the recognition, but abandons that hope just as quickly. Knowing what he knows about hiding scars, he knows Nicky already knows about his and hasn’t asked. Andrew isn’t sure what he would say if he did. He sure as hell won’t talk about his own, so he won’t make Nicky talk about his either.

Still. Nicky had been so open and chatty about literally everything, Andrew supposed he’d known Nicky. Maybe now he understands Nicky. Maybe he’s just tired.

**Author's Note:**

> Mods are asleep, post AFTG mini-ficlets


End file.
